3-time US Chess Champion Wesley So talks to Tania Sachdev after beating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 3:0 in Round 5 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals in San Francisco. Replay the games:
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#WesleySo #ShakhriyarMamedyarov #ChessChamps
Wesley what a match that was 3-0 against Shark what clicked today Well yeah I mean I was just trying to Play my best chess you know I I guess Sorry to play your The Secret Story to Play your best chess not to think about The result too much and hopefully things Go your way and that's exactly what Happened it's Every game you got your kind of position While Shaq you know he likes a mess on The board you made sure you shut down All that counter play yeah I think also I mean Shaq is a great player but this Also like snowballing because he's lost His third match in a row today and it Seems like he's Uh losing his form I mean also fortunately he wasn't able To put That much pressure out the opening like I was getting very playable positions And uh Okay you shouldn't have lost the first Game but he made some he captured the Wrong Pawn he should take on A2 by took On e4 in the first game that led to his Defeat I mean the second game he played Rook C4 too quickly and in the third Game things almost didn't go my way but I think D5 like d6d5 what he played was A mistake after I could see no losing Chances for myself I think Shaq was just Making
Um playing moves too quickly and Critical decisions but I mean we might Decide but I'm very pleased to win of Course and you know very grateful to Also I also want to take the time to Thank the organizers for holding such a Wonderful event as I said earlier I mean It's uh Uh they've really treated the Players very well here and that's one of The reasons why I really wanted to play In this last event and not online uh And I'm very glad to be here But you're always really kind and I want To ask you you mentioned about being Here uh is it more fun for you to play Such an event a hybrid esport chess Event on site or do you like to play it From the comfort of your home I don't Like playing from home because then You're throwing your pajamas and uh he Just barely woke up you know your family Members are there and they don't know What's going on it's very lonely playing Playing at home because I'm just by in Uh in the room all by myself for the Next four or five hours I think it's Much better off online you can be a Thousand percent sure about the Anti-cheating stuff like you can't see Your opponent And as we all know there's a cheating Scandal recently but I think our verbal Is much preferable because I mean in
Person because it's much more serious You feel like you're actually going to Work but I think chess 24 on the Melt Water have done a great job uh you know We're Hosting this event with everything that Happened as you mentioned with the Cheating scandal do you think that's Always at the back of the mind when You're playing these events even if you Don't want it to be Well I think over the board it's very Very difficult to Prevent I mean to cheat I mean over the Board it's super easy to prevent Cheaters you just need Uh to implement the a few minutes delay Uh you need maybe some scanners you need Random check checking of shoes of belts So it's very easy budding online I don't See how it's possible to be a thousand Percent uh sure there's always ways like I can think of Three different ways how to cheat on This online events we don't want to give Any ideas But the problem is that you know uh So being good just takes many years I Mean well if you wanna you wanna cheat It's so much easier okay you mentioned That you really enjoy being on site as Well because it builds an atmosphere so Are you enjoying it here with this Stunning view yeah very delay now are
Winning three matches in a row things Couldn't even do better and uh we're Saying at this fantastic Hotel yeah and I'm sure you know uh it gives It gives a discount to all the local Restaurants nearby so we've tried my mom And I have tried literally every single Restaurant and we're having a good time And you know I'm not over preparing I'm Just relaxing at night so it's been Pleasurable and uh yeah we're playing in One of the most fantastic buildings I've Ever played in so it's uh and you can See the Golden Gate Bridge I guess Nearby it's only my third time in third Or fourth time California I'm not really Very familiar I live in I live in the Midwest so it feels like being California is a totally different Country to me but uh you know I love it Here I've had great experience the People are very friendly So you know I might I can understand why Bobby Fisher moved to California It's so nice to hear about see that You're having a great time here and Enjoying chess and especially it was a Slow start with three big back-to-back Match wins uh it's good to see you back On track yeah one thing I must say also Is that the format this year is very Different like in the miners you have Three points for a win and you get Prices based on how many wins you get uh
Here also I guess it doesn't really Matter whether you finish second or Eight as long as you win matches So I mean it's a very interesting form I Wouldn't have thought of this kind of Format the first time I played this so It's interesting we're so happy to hear That you're enjoying the format and the Place uh Wesley good luck for the room
